Abstract:

The Miami Indians inhabited parts of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan. There were several tribes living in Indiana around 2,000 years ago (Sultzman 1999). Recently, Ball State University archeologists have discovered several burial sites near New Castle and Jay County. The Miami are Amerind and are predominantly lineage C, thus they were from the initial migrations into the Americas about 30,000 years ago (Stone, et al 1998). However, beyond the lineage, there is little known about individual Miami or the relationship between individuals. The investigation of certain restriction sites, or haplotypes, that are unique to American Indians will allow this Miami individual to be further studied. With the creation of a Haelll library, this will allow for a bank from which the individual can be studied and then later compared to other tribes. Valuable and rare genetic data is saved.To create a library, dentin from a tooth sample will be used as a source of mitochondrial DNA. The DNA is isolated and then digested. PCR is then used to amplify the segments of interest. Electrophoresis is used to analyze the band sizes that will provide information about the haplotypes. However, the dentin from the tooth did not provide much DNA, only 0.035 ug/uL. The sample was also heavily contaminated by protein. The mtDNA may have been degraded over time due to the elements. The gels were not informative because the samples were smeared and there was not any band differentiation. The presence of a D-Loop could not be accurately decided. There was no way to determine the specifics about the individual Miami. Unfortunately, nearly the entire sample was depleted in an effort to make a determination. Some dentin was saved for later analysis.